A Reverie For a Gourmand

"If music be the food of love, play on."  William Shakespeare

With marriage comes the opportunity to start new traditions.  And although both my husband and I would love to be in Wisconsin with our parents and siblings for Thanksgiving, outrageous airfare prices control our holiday.  So here we are, in San Francisco, prepping for the feast of feasts.  This weekend we bought our first turkey.  The array of fowl at the store was intimidating, but we finally chose an eleven-pound, organic bird, thawed and ready to be roasted.  Now, we're trying to find recipes for side dishes like sweet potatoes, green beans and cranberries, as well as our pièce de résistance, the turkey.

My family recipe book

One of the best gifts my mom ever gave me was a family recipe book.  In it, she wrote all of my favorite recipes and every time I look at it, I not only see my mom's distinctive script, but I see my past.  I see myself in ballet shoes, prancing home from Nutcracker practice, just in time to hang our homemade pretzel ornaments on the tree.  I see my apron-clad mom letting me, for the first time, roll out potica (a Slovenian nut bread) dough on our kitchen table.  I see my Grandma Millie, pulling out a fresh loaf of chocolate chip banana bread, just for my sister and me.   Naturally, I've been scouring the book for recipes I can use this Thanksgiving and found a few that I will add to my repertoire.  Holiday mashed potatoes, sweet potato chips, cranberry sauce.  For the rest of the dishes, Ian and I will have to find our own recipes.

As our lives change, so do our traditions.  The key is remembering those loved ones who, present or not, you'd like to incorporate into your new traditions.  Mix new recipes with the old and, for a more global interpretation, build a future that's influenced by your past; this Thanksgiving will truly be a mix of my past, present and future, and I can't wait!

Recommendation: Pumpkin Spice Bars (courtesy of Williams-Sonoma)
1 package yellow cake mix; set aside 1 cup

One bar and only crumbs left!

1/2 cup butter, melted

3 eggs

1 jar of pumpkin butter

2 tbsp. milk

1 tbsp flour

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 tsp. cinnamon

Preheat over to 350 F.  Divide yellow cake mix, placing all but one cup in a mixing bowl.  Stir the melted butter and one egg into the cake mix.  Press the mixture into the bottom of a greased 9"x13" pan. (Although the pan I used was a bit smaller I think).  Mix the jar of pumpkin butter with two eggs and milk.  Pour over the cake mix.  Stir the reserved cup of cake mix with the flour, sugar, softened butter and cinnamon. (I used my hands for this). Mix together until crumbly.  Sprinkle over top of the pumpkin layer.  Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until golden brown.  Cool.  Cut into 2" squares.  Serves 24.

Enjoy!